A Healthy & Happy New Year

Our Wish For You in 2010

May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts;
May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for £50 notes;
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips;
May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy;
May the problems you had forget your home address;

In simple words .....................................

May 2010 be the best year of your life !!!!!!!!!!!!

One Good Thing

It is bitterly cold, extremely icy with a thin layer of snow BUT today is the shortest day so we can at least look forward to a small improvement in daylight hours before too long.

The Alpacas are really tucking into their hay at the moment but they do look content as they sit around together on the chilly ground.

We have been very lucky as regards the snow as we have only had a slight covering but the frosts have been severe so we have had to grit the paths which are like glass.

There only remains one thing left to say: thank you for reading our blog about life at Toad Hall and

May you all have a VERY HAPPY AND PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS AND A TROUBLEFREE 2010. I hope Father Christmas brings you everything you hope for.

With best wishes from Pat and Sid

Pea Soup and Ghostly shapes

It was certainly a pea souper this morning. I leave for work in the dark and this morning with such thick fog as I drove along the local common ghostly shapes appeared out of the mist - it was the cattle crossing the road!!

I don't see much of the Alpacas at the moment as it is dark when I leave and dark when I get home. Sid is in complete charge so he is really busy at the moment. Our two weanlings, Charlie & Chan have been coping well on their own, they are in a paddock next to 'Wellground Scriptwriter' and he seems to enjoy the company. Chan has had a touch of pneumonia so had some Nuflor last weekend but seems to have recovered fully now.

All the Alpacas have big field shelters with gates on. We put in a thick straw bed for them and keep their feeders and hay in there so when the rain comes (which has been most of the time) they are shut in the shelters at night but they all seem really happy.

I don't suppose I shall see too much of the Alpacas this weekend as I had better start Christmas shopping, at least most of the cards have been done.

Thank goodness we live here and Sid does his 'proper job' from here or we would be in a pickle as well as pea soup!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to Normal

Well as normal as we are that is! Hopefully the gremlins have now gone for good and we can catch up.

Today was spent putting fresh straw in the field shelters and filling the hay racks, all the alpacas looked very contented as they sat on their fresh bedding looking out at the rain.

We have been very lucky weather wise - there has been lots of wind and rain but we have escaped the worst of it and no damage experienced I am glad to say.

It was a year last weekend since we moved into our home and when we were both ill it really took the pressure off as we could look out of the window and see all the paddocks.

Before we both succumbed to the gremlins we had taken a trip to the Welsh borders to get two new acquisitions - not Alpacas but more chickens. We collected two Blue Cochin to add to the menagerie, this makes the seventh group of chickens to be dealt with daily!!!

The Gremlins got us!!

Unfortunately both Sid and I have been confined inside this week. Sid has had swine flu and I have got bronchitis so we had to call in reinforcements (Antony our son) to do the feeding and stock checking as we locked out the world.

Over the worst now so onward and upward.

Back next week when life has returned to normal (we hope).

Pat

Purrfick!!!!!!!!

We have been busy over the last couple of weeks trying to get the urgent jobs done before the weather turned.


Firstly we un-planted the garden! Different I know but as soon as were able to in the Spring we managed to plant a small area with some summer flowers and our roses which we transplanted from our previous abode. We were lucky enough to have use of 'Ken the Kubota' so just before the rains we managed to remove the plants and get the ground into better shape ready to restock.
We are now prepared for the cold too. I managed to finish installing the wood burner on Saturday. Hopefully this is the last of the major works before we start building the Alpaca barn in the Spring (but perhaps our Alpacas will be like those on Countryfile last night and will decide to give birth in good weather between 8am and 2pm - it hasn't happened yet!!!)

A welcoming site to come home to!

Crafty cria

We have thought for some time that Gem was not feeding Charlie that well as he spent a lot of time with Chan and his mum Hiccup - today our thoughts were confirmed. Hiccup is feeding two cria. Right in front of the window this morning were the two of them feeding together. Chan, Hiccup's own cria stands closer to her with Charlie farther away.

This brings me on to another subject especially relevant to this time of year - feeding. We feed Camelibra and hay ad lib during the summer, also we feed speedi beet to nursing mothers and we have also fed bruised oats. We feed lucerne when we don't have good quality hay. The grass has been good this year, with plenty of it but as it deteriorates we need to think of winter feeding.

At the Royal Show we purchased a bucket mineral lick but none of them seem to have used it, we also bought a vitamin drench which we have not used as yet. All our animals look well so we want to keep them that way without overfeeding (or spending unnecessarily). After reading recent blogs associated with vitamin problems we do not want to overdo unnecessary additives but also want to make sure our animals don't miss out. The cria will have their monthly vitamin injection during the winter
We would love your comments/suggestions on feeding.

Making the most of a fine day was grand daughter Holly - enjoying her swing in the oak tree.